'Positive' England still in quandary over lineup for first Test against Sri Lanka

Colombo,
Sat, 24 Mar 2012ANI

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Colombo, Mar 24(ANI): Though a confident England side registered a comfortable four-wicket win over a Sri Lanka Development Eleven by chasing down a mammoth score of 359, the team is still not sure about its starting lineup for the first Test against Sri Lanka.

A side strain to Essex batsman Ravi Bopara, a gem of a knock from Samit Patel and an effortless 84 from Matt Prior has created a selection headache ahead of the first Test match.

After his brilliant knock, Prior could be slotted at six. England have three players for one spot which far from an ideal situation.rior believes England is lucky to have a plethora of options for different positions.

"There are so many options that we could go with. We are blessed with our players and there is no obvious choice with who we are going to go with," The Mirror quoted Prior, as saying.

"Out here it will be interesting to see what the balance is going to be. We're very fortunate to have very good all round cricketers in Samit, Bressie, and Ravi although it is a shame he can't bowl," he added

"All I know is that if we go with five bowlers and I'm asked to bat at six then I'm more than happy to do that and hope to grab that chance. We have to get the balance of the team right and then see which one will best fit into that," he said.

Bopara, who scored 66 yesterday, is still expected to get the nod as a specialist batsman at six to bolster the batting, but without his half dozen overs a day of medium pace, they will have to look elsewhere. (ANI)